Experiment Twenty
by LegendBecomesMyth
Summary: There is a darker side to Shuggazoom, one that even the Hyper Force had no knowledge of. What if Skeleton King was not the only threat? What if there was another from within? The truth is revealed with 'Experiment Twenty', evil's best kept secret.


**15 years ago**

The little girl opened her eyes painfully, but the light was blinding. A dark figure stood before her, then slowly his features swam into view. He was watching her carefully, but did not move from his position. With a start, the girl realised she was on the floor. How did she get on the floor? Her mind was too blurry to think.

"What happened?" the male before her spoke. The girl didn't know his name. Shakily, she got to her feet and her stomach lurched, as if the effort was too much. She focused her attention on the man before her. His face was old and tired, and each wrinkle was emphasised by the frown that covered his features. In his hands, he held a notepad and pen. Around his neck was a stethoscope. He was a doctor?

The man repeated his question, pressing more firmly this time, "Well?"

"I... I don't know," Her memory was starting to come back to her. She could faintly recall a training exercise, and then she had collapsed, "I'm s-sorry sir. I don't remember," the little girl was painfully aware of the scrutinizing glare the doctor was giving her. But truth be told, her mind simply was not yielding. Focusing on something had become too difficult, and the pangs in her head had become more severe. The man sighed dramatically, but did not reply, instead choosing to write something down in his notepad. The girl took the time to look around the room, regaining her bearings. It was a small, white room, plain as well. Besides the chair that the man was sitting on, there was no other object except for a small, wooden cube lying uselessly on the floor. The most interesting feature, the girl had decided, was the thick glass mirror that spanned almost the entire wall, directly opposite her. Sometimes, when she was staring hard enough at her reflection, she fancied that she heard echoes, or voices, coming from it. But they would soon dissipate, like ghosts from a dream long forgotten.

"Well," the man said sharply, snapping his notebook shut. The girl's attention was quickly drawn from the mirror back to him, "I'm very disappointed with today's session. I thought we would have more progress. I suppose I will see you tomorrow though," He rose from his chair and strode towards the door, knocking twice. There was a beep, and the door clicked open. The doctor held it for the nurse to get through, then he marched out, quickly closing it behind him.

From the other side of the mirror, a woman shook her head and sighed dejectedly as she watched the session unfold. She was soon joined by the doctor who was in the room with the little girl only moments ago.

"It's getting worse, isn't it Alice?" the man, known as Hans, spoke. Alice simply replied with a nod. The doctor cursed, but Alice wasn't paying attention; she was just staring intently at the little girl who was now being looked at by the nurse.

"Sometimes, I think she can hear me. You know, from in there," Alice said softly. She pressed her hand to the two way mirror, and held it there for a moment.

"It's possible. Her telekinesis is stronger than the previous subject. Unfortunately, her illness is also more aggressive," Hans spoke passively, without emotion. Alice shot him a look, then returned her gaze to the little girl.

"How much longer until she..?" Alice couldn't finish the sentence, as if dreading the next word. Hans rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"2 weeks, give or take. Possibly less."

"Just awful..."

"Yes," he agreed, "This whole experiment was doomed from the start. The military will never consider funding for us again."

"That's _not _what I meant," Alice turned to him with an icy glare, but decided against saying anything further. The nurse from inside the room had finished the check up, and was waiting patiently by the door to be let out. Alice pressed a button, unlocking it and the nurse bustled out, taking her equipment with her. The girl now sat alone in the room, surveying the wooden cube that was on the floor.

"You have that meeting up on level 3 by the way," she added, turning to leave, "They've sent that sergeant this time."

Hans groaned angrily, "Not that blithering idiot! He has absolutely no understanding of science, honestly, they couldn't of chosen a worse representative!" He continued voicing his complaints as the pair left the room, discussing the session, as well as the upcoming meeting. They were completely unaware of the blue and brown heterochromia eyes that were, once again, staring intently at the mirror, listening to the voices that echoed from within.

* * *

><p>Hans and Alice arrived at the meeting, only to be greeted by another fellow scientist. This man was quiet, observant and rarely spoke, so when the pair entered the room, he quickly averted his eyes and shuffled his hands together awkwardly. Hans, already in a bad mood from the failed training session previously, decided to take his anger out on the young man.<p>

"So Brian, figured out a way not to fuck up our test subjects?" he snapped, much to the dismay of his colleague Alice. The man named Brian flinched.

"It's a very delicate process," his words fell out of his mouth in a jumbled mess, "We haven't discovered a way of preventing the body from rejecting the genetic mutations-"

"Sounds to me like you're not working hard enough!" Hans said irritably, but he desisted in his tirade when the door burst open. Two men entered the room - one donning a business suit, and the other wearing a military uniform. The three scientists hurriedly respected their entry, then they all sat down at the table. Alice noticed that there was a spare seat, with a meeting brief in front. Someone was missing? But she remained quiet, as the meeting had begun.

"Thank you all for being here on such short notice," the man in the suit began, "And I'd also like to thank Sergeant Reynolds for joining us today."

"Well," Sergeant Reynolds immediately drew himself up when mentioned, as if trying to make himself seem larger than he really was, "We like to know how our investments are going, right Damon?. Keeping track of these little science games are one of our highest priorities," already his clear lack of knowledge was blatantly obvious. Hans rolled his eyes.

"Unfortunately, we are missing one of our colleagues today," continued the suit-man Damon, "Mandarin of the Hyper Force, whom i'm sure you're familiar with." The name 'Hyper Force' was met with some disdain, as Alice and Hans muttered comments to each other, "He sends his apologies as well as his regards to Sergeant Reynolds," Damon paused, then went on, "Hans, would you like to update us with a status report? How is the test subject going?"

Hans shifted uneasily in his seat, surveying everybody with mixed expressions. He cleared his throat, "Well, we are still ironing out some of the kinks of this experiment. Obviously there have been a few technicalities that are _out of my control-_"

"What kind of technicalities?" Reynolds interrupted.

"That question is better directed at my colleague, Brian," Hans said through gritted teeth. Brian audibly gulped. Reynolds focused his attention on the nervous young man.

"Well, speak son!" he said loudly, "We don't have all day."

"W-well," Brian began, "The host hasn't taken to the new strain of the virus we developed. It was designed to genetically alter the DNA of the test subject and whilst this so far has proven successful, the aftermath has not been so positive. Every single subject has fought the virus, and effectively attacked their own bodies, rejecting the change. We have not been able to overcome this barrier, as of yet." he finished triumphantly. There was a silent pause, then-

"I'm sorry, what did he just say? That was a whole lot of medical jargon," Reynolds said obnoxiously, "But what I am to get is that the experiments aren't working? This is not pleasing to hear."

"Well, we are still in the beginning phases, sir," Alice quickly interjected, "To even manage the creation of this virus strain in the first place is a major scientific breakthrough, to say the least!"

"But the military doesn't care for a 'scientific breakthrough' that doesn't deliver results!" Reynolds heavily got out of his chair, placed his hat on his head, then turned for the door, "The funding grant lasts for another year, and the military has agreed to extend it for a further 20 years. However, if you do not start getting better results soon, we will terminate it without warning." And with that, Reynolds turned and left, Damon hurrying out after him. Brian soon gathered up his materials and followed suit.

Hans threw himself onto the table, sighing dramatically. He was rather fond of it by now. Alice gave him a sympathetic look.

"We're almost achieving the results we want. It's only a matter of time," she chose her words carefully. Hans seemed not to hear what she said.

"We were so close with this most recent subject. Her telekinesis is strong too, if only her body wouldn't reject the changes!" he roughly pushed himself back into his chair, folding his arms and rubbing his temple with his thumb, "And what's with Mandarin not showing today anyway? He hasn't been around here in a while."

"He's had some trouble with the Hyper Force, apparently," mused Alice, "I think they're starting to realise his intentions concerning Shuggazoom."

"Took them long enough," Hans muttered.

"Indeed," Alice was staring absent mindedly at the wall, when she broke her gaze and smiled at her colleague, "Tell you what. It's $10 pasta night at the local restaurant. We've had a long day, care to join me? A few of the other scientists will be there."

Hans thought for a moment, "I suppose."

The pair got up and left the meeting room, mentally gearing themselves for another 20 gruelling years of scientific experiments. Things, however, were to soon change. For better, or for worst? Depends on whose side you're on.


End file.
